Heartstrings: Letting Go
by Lilako
Summary: Hakoda loves his daughter, but he's not the only one. When a certain firebender comes to him for his blessing, how hard will it be to let go? My entry for Zutara Week 2012 Day 5: Heartstrings.


Hakoda was a man of war. He was a man of steel. He'd had to be. It had served him time and again as chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

And it continued to serve him as the single father of his two suddenly adolescent children.

Sokka, Tui bless his heart, was growing into a fine man. When Hakoda had left the tribe in order to fight in the war, Sokka had been a small and spirited boy. Now, he was nearly as tall as Hakoda himself, and sported the beginnings of wiry stubble with pride. Sokka had his mother's heart and his father's everything else. Yes, he was proud of his son.

And that girl, Suki – she was definitely one in a million. Any girl that could singlehandedly bind and gag a fully-grown man and kidnap him from his own prison (all without breaking a sweat, mind you) was alright in his books. He expected Sokka to start working on his necklace any day now.

But it was his daughter that worried him, that had him tripping over his own thoughts and words. It was his daughter that was making him irrational in his overwhelming urge to _protect_ her.

Hakoda knew that he couldn't cling to Katara forever. But he wanted to try. She was his baby girl. When he had left for the war, she'd still been all soft lines and chubby with the innocence that comes with early childhood. But now, she looked uncannily, almost _scarily_, like her mother.

Kya had been a beautiful young woman, and still to this day Hakoda thanked the spirits for her love, wondering what he had ever done to earn it. She had been killed nearly ten years ago now – ten long, dreadful, dark and lonely years…

Too many days he'd spent alone in his hut, left with only memories of his late wife; too many cold winter nights he lingered by the fire, feeling cold instead of warmth as he dreamt of her touch.

So when he'd first seen his children after so much time away from them, his heart had stilled.

Kya. Katara. He remembered the spinning sensation in his head with vivid precision. She looked exactly like her mother had as a teenager, and while he had been ecstatic to see his children again, it had been excruciatingly painful to be so horribly and jarringly reminded of his deceased wife. It was like taking a knife through the heart, but infinitely worse, because there was no death or reprieve from the agony, and every day he had to get up and face it all over again.

"Sir?" The boy asked again, but the chief ignored him, turning back to his thoughts. The boy could wait. _Hopefully, though, the poor fool won't hold his breath_, he mused.

The point was, Hakoda loved Katara dearly. She was her mother's daughter; kind, caring, with a rare sort of compassion, smart, beautiful; one of the most powerful waterbenders in the world… and his baby girl. So he could see what the boy saw in her.

But he was a_ boy._

Hakoda's mouth firmed into a harsh, firm line as his mind flashed back to when he had been this boy's age.

The boy seemed strong and capable, and if Hakoda were honest with himself, he would admit that he truly liked the young man. Clearly he was a respectable sort of person. Honorable, even. Really, Hakoda felt Katara couldn't do much better in the way of character, even if the boy was somewhat awkward and off-putting to others at first.

But he was _a boy._

And boys had _thoughts._

The door opened just to their right. "Hey Zuko, hey dad," said Katara as she came towards them, a tea tray in her hands.

Hakoda raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to laugh as the boy spluttered, eyes bulging out and hand scrambling to hide the necklace from his daughter's view. He might have even given into the urge, had the situation not been so terrifyingly serious.

_His_ Katara.

A necklace.

A _boy._

Katara looked between them. "Uh….what's wrong?"

His blood froze.

"Oh, uh, you know," he said matter-of-factly, "I was just telling young Zuko here some stories from when I fought in the war. And about all the Fire Navy vessels I singlehandedly dispatched."

Katara glared. "Dad!"

But it was the Fire Lord Hakoda was focused on. The young man's gaze hardened and his fists clenched. _Boy do _you_ have a lot to learn about speaking to your elders, son,_ he thought, as steam issued from his fists.

Zuko spoke through gritted teeth. "And I was telling your father about how the Fire Navy vessels have been converted into cargo ships."

_Oh, so we're gonna play that game, are we?_

"I was telling the boy that I lament the tradition of the Fire Lord pouring tea to his equals. I've had better drinks from an open latrine."

"I was telling your _father_ how much of an _honor_ it was to….pour him the tea," he finished lamely.

_Shit._

_The boy learns fast._

"I was telling the boy about the time I was forced to make a shovel out of a human bone in order to survive. A Fire Nation soldier's bone."

Hakoda wryly wondered if the Fire Lord's teeth would grind themselves into powder if he kept making that face at him, or whether the fool boy would realize he had never really had to use a firebender's femur to make a shovel.

Zuko took a step forward. "You take that back!"

"Or what, boy?

Katara had taken to watching the verbal sparring match with a cool expression, but Hakoda had almost forgotten she was there to begin with.

The Fire Lord thrust his clenched fists towards the ground in his fury… and the satin of the ribbon poked out from in between his fingers, like a tiny, shimmering flag.

"Hey," said Katara, stepping forward, "what's that?"

Zuko stumbled over himself in his haste as he tried to shove his hand out of her reach but to no avail; she spread his fingers apart and gasped. Her hand jumped to the necklace already sitting at the nape of her neck.

Then she squealed and rushed into the boy's arms, throwing her own around him. "Eeeek! I can't _believe _this, it's so beautiful –"

And Hakoda's heart broke, knowing that his little girl was not so little anymore.

Hakoda clapped a hand on Zuko's shoulder with a "congratulations, son," and kissed his daughter on the head before excusing himself from the room.

As he left, he caught the look etched into his son-in-law-to-be's golden eyes.

_"I'll take care of your daughter."_

Hakoda pulled the door open and stepped away from the room, but not before he responded with a look of his own.

_"I know."_


End file.
